The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

The Rohan family fell silent for a moment.

It was a face that seemed to ask whether this was nonsense or human speech.

‘Are you asking me to spar with Sienna?’

Laria reflexively looked at Sienna.

Sienna also had a surprised look as if she hadn’t been spoken to in advance. Then she nodded as if she didn’t mind.

“I don’t mind. It’ll be a great opportunity to learn a lot.”

Sienna tilted her head and forced an answer from Laria.

“Is that so? Lady Rohan.”

“What’s with that expression!”

Herdin couldn’t hold back and raised his voice.

“My sister has only recently manifested as a sorcerer.”

“It’s not even a real match, just a simple contest. Why are you so upset?”

When Marquis Hashir treated him lightly, Herdin’s face turned cold. It seemed like he was about to cause trouble right away.

Theodore, who had been silent for a while, raised his head.

His hands were trembling with fear, unable to overcome it yet.

Still, he met the Marquis’s eyes for the first time, as if to say he couldn’t push Laria into this.

“I’d rather go with Marquis…”

“I don’t mind either.”

Laria interrupted Theodore’s words.

She smiled brightly, looking at Sienna, who was smiling up like a doll.

“It’s a good opportunity to gauge my skills.”

“Absolutely not.”

“What are you saying?”

“La-Laria!”

Despite the family raising their voices, Laria didn’t change her mind.

She roughly knew Sienna’s abilities.

She had seen her magic during the bank robbery incident.

‘Sienna isn’t a match for me.’

While Sienna herself might consider Laria a competitor, the reality was different.

After experiencing several incidents, Laria had a rough idea of her own abilities.

‘Breaking a defense barrier and shattering a high-level sorcerer-made magic nullification necklace in one go…’

If Laria were to join the Sorcery Office, she might even rise to a fairly high position.

Sienna, the daughter of the head of the Sorcery Office, admired Liri the mercenary so much.

‘I feel a little sorry for Sienna, but…’

It was better than her father and Marquis Hashir sparring.

Later, she would have to listen to the story, but there was clearly something the Marquis had done to her father.

Furthermore, her father’s magic power wasn’t as strong as it used to be.

It was still remarkable now, but he would be at a disadvantage in a direct confrontation.

The Marquis seemed satisfied with Laria’s answer and stroked his mustache.

“If your daughter wants to have a contest, why stop her?”

Herdin was about to say ‘Shut up’ but barely swallowed it.

Tiny scales appeared on Semela’s neck, who couldn’t control her emotions. Her eyes were filled with a look that she wanted to kill the Marquis right away.

Semela pushed Laria behind her and spoke instead.

“As a guardian, I refuse the contest.”

“Why does a grown adult need a guardian? What’s wrong with the Rohan family…?”

Before the Marquis could finish his sentence, Laria shifted her gaze behind him. When the Rohan family also looked there, the Marquis turned around.

Zenox was walking towards them.

* * *

“Wow, my skin is itching like crazy. Is it because he’s a snake beastman? His gaze is so sharp.”

Ishel, who had escaped to a corner of the banquet hall to avoid Herdin, wiped away cold sweat.

“It’s been a while since we last met, but he’s still trying to kill me.”

Ishel had complained several times that he had dreamed of dying from suffocation.

“But there is no doctor I like more than Herdin Rohan.”

He was clearly speaking of his own doctor but suddenly began to praise him, who was in charge of all the imperial family.

Ishel had been diagnosed with a weak body since birth and had been told that he wouldn’t live long. He had barely survived by taking all sorts of famous medicines, but he miraculously became healthy after Herdin became his doctor.

It was as if he had never been sick a day in his life.

Since then, Ishel and the nobles had blindly trusted Herdin’s skills.

“As long as I keep breathing, he’ll save me, so I can’t even kill myself!”

“…”

“No, if I threaten to kill myself, I think he’ll just pack up and leave as if he’s been waiting.”

Tired of listening to pointless stories, Zenox loosened his clenched fist. Then, without putting on his armor, he lightly hit the wall with his bare fist.

Thump, the wall vibrated from floor to ceiling, and Ishel closed his mouth.

That’s made of marble…

“So, what do you want to say?”

Zenox raised his eyebrows as if to tell him to speak quickly, and Ishel, who became urgent, poured out his words as if vomiting.

“Well, did I make a mistake to Lady Rohan? Did you feel it at the auction last time? It’s not paranoia; she really seems to dislike me, isn’t it?”

When Laria scratched her ears, frowning, Ishel raised the corners of his eyes in an unjust manner.

“Honestly, I’m sorry for suddenly making a meeting between you two… but still, isn’t it working out well? The two are engaged!”

But why does she keep looking at me like that?

Zenox, the culprit of the problem, was silent for a moment.

Perhaps Laria still misunderstands that Ishel is trying to force her to marry. She must be thinking that today’s engagement announcement was done by Ishel alone.

However, Zenox had no reason to resolve this misunderstanding.

For now, he had to keep Laria by his side and monitor her until it was revealed that she was Whitie.

And he didn’t want Laria to get close to Ishel.

“Hey. Can you take a look at my face? Cousin?”

Zenox looked at Ishel as if he was annoying.

They came quite far, but Zenox continued to watch Laria.

How persistent his gaze was. Feeling this, Ishel half-jokingly complained.

“It’s just a flying rumor… You’re not really getting engaged by threatening me, are you”

Zenox chuckled.

“Threatening, huh?”

“No, it just feels like I’m being monitored in case I run away.”

Zenox didn’t answer.

Can it be? Ishel widened his eyes in shock.

Because it was getting annoying to deal with Ishel, Zenox spoke casually as if throwing it away.

“Perhaps the young lady doesn’t like you because you talk too much.”

“…Talking too much makes Lady Rohan hate me?”

Ishel was shocked, his mouth hanging open.

“If you just shut your mouth, she might like you.”

After saying those words, Zenox’s eyes narrowed.

A middle-aged man with red hair and a woman who looked like his daughter approached Laria. The atmosphere felt strange even though they were far away.

Zenox closely observed Laria.

Her slightly open lips and raised eyebrows indicated anger.

Zenox, who remembered that the relationship between the Rohan family and the Hashir family wasn’t good, opened his mouth.

“I should be going now.”

“Oh, yes…”

Shocked by Zenox’s advice, Ishel raised his hand like a wilting plant.

“Please speak kindly of me to Lady Rohan.”

He muttered sadly, as if he would keep his mouth shut if he met her in the future.

When Zenox was about to leave as if he would, Ishel grabbed him as if he had just thought of something.

“Right. What about the engagement announcement?”

“Do as you wish.”

“My wish? It’s your engagement!”

Family members standing close to Laria entered Zenox’s field of vision. They wouldn’t overprotect a child to this extent.

Zenox knew that Laria’s family was already planning to separate them.

From their perspective, it was natural since Zenox was seen as a robber.

However, Zenox had no intention of letting go. Since they had come this far, it would be better to establish a clear relationship with Laria.

Thinking about why he should get engaged, Zenox answered:

“Let the announcement proceed as planned.”

“Did Lady Rohan agree to it?”

Zenox didn’t answer and walked away promptly.

His armor sparkled as he moved toward an area where the chandelier’s light shone. Except for his armor, which gleamed from head to toe, he was shrouded in darkness like a shadow that absorbed light.

Ironically, everyone else had dressed so brightly that his presence became even more noticeable.

As he walked toward the center of the banquet hall, people engaged in subtle arguments fled like startled rabbits.

Without realizing it, Zenox’s steps suddenly stopped. He examined them and roughly guessed the situation. It seemed that Marquis Hashir and his daughter had initiated the dispute.

Standing next to Laria, Zenox spoke up.

“Marquis Hashir.”

When the name was mentioned, Marquis Hashir jerked his shoulders in surprise.

“There was a foul smell even from a distance.”

No one understood what Zenox was trying to say when he muttered it as if to himself.

When Zenox continued to fixate on Marquis Hashir, the latter’s face turned red as if he had just thought of something embarrassing.

“W-What!”

Marquis Hashir was so humiliated that his well-groomed beard trembled.

“To insult someone like this, even if you’re a Grand Duke…!”

Before the words of indignation could be completed, Zenox leaned toward Marquis Hashir as if sniffing his hand.

“For instance… Like the smell of blood.”

Although it was a momentary comment, Laria didn’t miss the hint of agitation in the Marquis’s eyes.